Guest opinion: Utah needs Proposition 3 to keep us healthy

This November, AARP Utah is urging voters to support Proposition 3, the initiative that will expand Medicaid coverage to approximately 150,000 people in Utah who currently do not have access to affordable health care coverage.

In Utah, most adults without children are completely ineligible for Medicaid benefits. The Utah Legislature’s most recent expansion currently provides health care coverage for 4,500 parents who earn less than $15,000 a year (for a family of four) and 3,500 others who are either homeless or involved with the criminal justice system. The latter must also make 5 percent or less of the federal poverty limit, or less than $594 a year. While we wholeheartedly support expanding coverage to these Utahns, the income limit and narrow definitions of who is now eligible for expanded coverage is woefully inadequate.

Because of the program’s limits, many hardworking Utahns will lose their health care if they take a promotion or work more hours to get ahead, and ironically may still earn too little to qualify for subsidies to buy affordable health care coverage on their own. Instead of punishing Utah workers by taking away their health care, Proposition 3 rewards them by bridging their health care as they pull themselves out of poverty.

There are thousands of people 50-64 years old who do not qualify for Medicaid yet or are too young for Medicare. Proposition 3 would offer a much-needed lifeline to these Utahns, in some cases providing the health care they need in order to seek employment. And according to a GAO study, people who have health insurance before they enroll in Medicare cost less to cover, as they haven’t let illnesses or conditions become severe before they seek medical intervention. According to the report, during the first year in Medicare, beneficiaries with prior continuous insurance had approximately $2,300, or 35 percent less in average predicted total spending than those without continuous coverage. As we look to make Medicare solvent for future generations, it is incumbent upon us to help people stay healthier longer to reduce long-term health care costs.

Beyond the economic savings, people with health care coverage have far better outcomes at lower cost than waiting to go to the emergency room for expensive care. Using the emergency room as a primary care center is not only inefficient, it also burdens hospitals with absorbing costs that may not be compensated. Further, emergency rooms only stabilize patients; they don’t provide the ongoing care many with chronic conditions require. Covering patients who can receive preventive, coordinated care is not only more humanitarian, but helps hospitals recoup costs lost to charity care.

Right now, the uncompensated costs hospitals incur are often passed along to people who have health insurance in the form of higher premiums. Research shows that marketplace premiums are 7 percent lower in expansion states, which could represent a significant savings to many Utahns. This isn’t unique to hospitals; business losses are often recaptured in the form of higher prices for consumers. In the health care world, this means patients who are already struggling with expenses not covered by insurance, such as co-insurance, deductibles and co-pays, pay even more for insurance that may cover fewer services. For older people with expenses not covered by Medicare, this can be debilitating.

And there are tangential benefits as well. Expanding Medicaid to help families have access to affordable health care helps those in the older population who may be helping their adult children pay for medical expenses or tending children for parents who must work several jobs to make ends meet. Medicaid, like Medicare, reduces the burden on family members to provide care or pay for expenses when their loved ones are in need of assistance.

AARP began as an organization to help retired teachers secure access to affordable, quality health care coverage, and has never looked back on this mission. AARP Utah supports Proposition 3 to keep our friends and neighbors healthy, on the job, and able to contribute to the state’s economy. We encourage you to support Proposition 3 on Election Day.

CREDIT: Alan Ormsby, Deseret News